South Korea: Plastic surgery clinic fined for tower of bones

A plastic surgery clinic in Seoul's chic Gangnam district has been fined for displaying a decorative tower made of bone removed from patients' chins, it appears.

The clinic posted a photo of the installation on its website in an attempt to promote its surgeon's skills, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reports. The bone fragments were carved from the chins of around 1,000 patients hoping to achieve slimmer-looking faces - and each has the owner's name written on it. The picture went viral on social media prompting a member of the public to complain to the local authorities.

The clinic was ordered to remove the tower, and fined around 3m won (£1,600; $2,750) for "violating medical waste disposal regulations". To put the fine in context, the jawbone shaving operation itself costs about 3.5m won, the paper says. The law requires hospitals to store surgical remains in special containers, and transport them to be incinerated in designated vehicles. Failure to do so can entail a maximum two-year sentence, or a fine of 10m won, but the Gangnam authorities say they have no plans to prosecute the clinic.

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